New Leaf
by 0MoonAndSun0
Summary: Mito Uzumaki was a strong woman, wife of the First Hokage and first jinchuriki of the kyuubi. Follow her in her younger years as she leaves her old life and meets two friends, Hashirama and Madara, who will change her life forever. Rated T for serious but non-explicit themes. MitoXHash, MitoXMadara. "...we must find love and fill the vessel with it..."
1. New Start

**Mito Uzumaki is a vague character that is barely mentioned in the manga and the anime, but plays the big part of marrying the First Hokage and becoming the kyuubi's first jinchuriki.**

**I want to write a story about her, centering on her relationships to Hashirama and Madara, her growth in becoming a powerful shinobi able of holding Kurama through childbirth, and a powerful person becoming a strong figure in Konoha.**

**I start off slowly, but just to add in effect.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**Thank you for taking your time to read! :)**

* * *

"Come, child. Come sit next to me."

The soft, patient voice of the old woman soothed Kushina's crazed nerves. Kushina breathed in deeply, trying to calm down her beating heart. She was just brought into this strange room by a couple shinobi, and they left her with this old woman after closing the doors behind them. _What is going to happen to me? Why is this happening to me?_

"Kushina, my dear. It's alright." The kind, old woman said, making the young girl look up at the older woman's reassuring smile. Kushina slowly walked over to the bed the woman was sitting on, the room a nice temperature with the afternoon sun shining through the window and the fresh scent of the flowers sitting on the desk casting the bedroom into a comfortable setting. The older woman smiled again at Kushina, her smile deep and sincere and her kind, wrinkly eyes emitting a profound calmness that helped her settle down.

"Who are you?" Kushina asked the woman as she sat down on the soft sheets next to her.

"I am Mito. Mito Uzumaki," she replied, and Kushina's eyes rose. _Uzumaki? Like me?_ The older woman seemed to read her expression and replied.

"Yes, we come from the same clan, Kushina. We have many similar powers and strengths, and that is why you are here with me today."

Kushina watched the older woman with wide eyes, not believing she was meeting someone from her family.

"But why _am_ I here, Mito-san?" Kushina inquired, desperate to know why she was taken from her house and brought here before this stranger. She watched the older woman close her eyes and her expression take on a thoughtful tone before opening them again to smile down at her.

"Just call me Mito. And well, I have spent the majority of my life serving our village in a unique way. I carry a burden, and it is a burden only one person can carry at a time." She looked out the window at the trees being swayed by the wind and the sun catching on the leaves, her eyes seeing something beyond the trees and the clouds. "I am getting old, however, and the time has come for me to pass this duty on to a younger shinobi."

Kushina blinked at Mito, realizing she would be the one to have to carry this burden.

"And I have to take on this burden?" Kushina's brows came together, her worry displaying itself on her face. Mito looked back at her and focused her old eyes on her, her expression full of understanding.

"Burdens are always heavy for the individual having to carry it. However, I believe this burden has done more good for me than bad. I have learned more from this duty than any sensei could teach me," Mito told the young girl, and Kushina looked up at her with surprise at the old woman's strong resolve. Kushina saw a strength in the old woman's eyes, but also something else, something that seemed to balance and soften it. Mito continued.

"I was entrusted with this burden by my husband, the First Hokage, many, many years ago. This duty has been a way for me to serve our village, our home." She lightly placed her hand on Kushina's cheek, her smile genuine and her face content. "Believe it or not my dear, I am happy I was able to take this burden."

Kushina smiled slightly at the calm old woman, not really understanding what she meant but knowing Mito spoke with honesty. _How would she be happy to take on a burden for so long? _

"Mito, why would you be happy to have a burden?" Kushina spoke her mind, and Mito looked off into the distance again. She sighed deeply, but it wasn't a tired sigh like older people usually have, but rather a thoughtful sigh, one that encompassed decades of feelings and emotions and experiences that no one younger than her could completely comprehend. She looked down at Kushina, the older woman's dark eyes holding a younger energy.

"I can tell you, but it's a bit of a long story. I'm quite old, dear." Kushina smiled, taking a liking to this woman. She nodded and settled next to her old relative, Mito's expression showing excitement.

"Well, I will start from the beginning."

* * *

Mito Uzumaki, former lady of Uzushiogakure, leaned against a tree to catch her breath. The sun was setting; the millions of leaves on the trees in this area causing a loud wave of rustling that reminded her of the waves back home. The dying sunlight was barely offering her any light, the multitude of trees in this never-ending forest acting like a wall and blocking the rays of light from the sun near the horizon. Mito looked up into the sky, catching glimpses of the clear, cloudless darkening blue through the openings in the trees' moving canopy. She sighed in relief, a slight tension in her stomach dispersing.

_Good. It won't rain tonight._

Mito bent down to grab the dead rabbit she had caught an hour or so ago, silently measuring its size and determining how much meat she could get off of it. She felt around the dead carcass, her small fingers brushing against the soft brown fur.

_Should be enough for a meal. I also have some berries I found this morning back by that lake._

Mito looked to the sky once more to gauge how long before it was dark enough for a fire. Knowing she had about half an hour left of this dim light, she began looking around for dry sticks and branches to keep a fire. The area she was in was surrounded closely by these tall trees and would offer her a cover for her to sleep in tonight.

Before long, she had accumulated enough branches to have a fire last for a while, and she set up a spit where she could cook the rabbit with practiced hands. She paused and looked at her hands for a moment, seeing and feeling the newly formed calluses and scars she had earned from her time away from home. Her once pale, slim hands had gained a certain roughness from her survival lifestyle, and the rest of her body had changed like this as well.

_Well it wasn't like my fairness and my beauty would feed me when I got hungry._

Mito took out her knife and fit it into the center of the rabbit's chest, preparing to skin the animal. Her fingers moved with ease, these actions now regular to her after so long living in this manner. She smiled slightly.

_What would my father say now?_

Her thoughts went back to her previous life as her hands continued skinning the animal on their own accord, no longer needing any assistance. Her mind was filled with images of her beautiful village, the sun shining a thousand sparkles on the waves and the water lapping along the houses in a lazy way. She saw herself, her long red hair tied in her two buns, her poise dignified and proud of her powerful family. She used to wear such beautiful clothing, the fabrics brought from foreign lands and the patterns so colorful, always earning her compliments from the other villagers.

_I don't even want to know what I look like now._

Mito sighed at her vanity, blaming her past and how she was brought up to put so much care into her appearance. The first month of her travel was painful; having to subject herself to a much harder and scarier lifestyle than the one she had left. She had had to learn to deal with dirt and grime getting everywhere and sleeping on the ground, and killing animals and cleaning them to be able to fill her always empty stomach. The ninja skills that had been passed down to her had helped immensely in survival and had helped keep her from having much trouble with other people.

These times were hard. So many people had died from the war, including people from her clan. The war was technically over now, but that really didn't mean anything. Everyone was still against each other, and Mito had to watch her back since the day she had left her village.

She finished cleaning the animal and she fixed it over the fire pit to cook. With a small fire jutsu, she lit the fire and soon had it blazing. She stuck her hand in her bag to fish out a small scroll that she kept her cooking materials in. She unrolled the scroll a bit and found the sign that had her spices sealed. After building up a small bit of chakra, she released them from their scroll in a puff of smoke, feeling the almost negligible cost of chakra from the summoning.

_My clan's fuinjutsu sure has been handy._

Mito used her spices and herbs to flavor the cooking meat, the smell making her mouth water and her empty stomach rumble. She unrolled her scroll some more to reveal the seal that held her bedroll, and she set up the sheets next to a tree, close to the fire. She settled on the sheets to wait for the meat to cook, leaning against the rough bark of the tree, and began to think about what she would do in the morning.

_I am a few hours away from the village said to be hidden in the trees._

Mito ran her hand through her soft hair, feeling how short and light it was. A couple weeks ago, she had had an encounter at a small inn she was staying at. The innkeepers were a kind old couple, trying to make a living by renting out rooms in their large cottage and cooking meals for their guests. After getting to know them, Mito had found out their children had all died fighting in the war. Their situation was much like many old couples' throughout the land, but where there are good people, there also exists bad people.

A group of three men were staying in a room at the same time Mito was renting one. She could tell from the moment she laid her eyes on them that they were nasty men, horrible people. They gave the innkeepers trouble, and even went so far as to demand a large discount because they were 'soldiers' returning home from the war. When they saw her, they looked at her like she was a piece of meat, their narrow eyes glinting with malice. She naively thought they would leave her alone since she was only staying for one more night, and she was rarely bothered by people of a lower class and status than her.

She awoke in the middle of the night from a rough hand shoving a gag into her mouth and another heavy hand grabbing her neck roughly, holding her down. She had screamed a muffled cry when another man had cut her dress and her underwear apart with a sharp knife, cutting her along the way and leaving her with scars she still had along her stomach, hips, and thighs. She had felt so exposed, so vulnerable, and so dirty under the evil hands of the men. She remembered the smell of her blood mixing with the dirty, masculine scent of her attackers, their evil eyes watching her with a sick sense of enjoyment as she struggled under their hold. One man had grabbed a fistful of her hair, his other hand chopping a large portion off with his own knife after mentioning how much money they could get from selling a redhead. He then had ripped open her travel bags, in search of the money nobles always had with them.

She barely remembered cutting one of her attacker's throats with a quick slice of medical ninjutsu, the muscles and veins slicing apart under her hand in her hasty instinct to defend herself. She remembered everything being covered in blood, and she used her free hand to grab a kunai from under her pillow and throw it towards the other man with the knife, hitting him in the chest and making him fall back. She remembered her heart beating frantically in fear, her breath coming faster than ever before as she watched the third man flee from the room.

That was her first time killing anyone, and it had shocked her hard. After the innkeepers had apologized a hundred times and had cleaned up the mess in the room, she had stayed with them for another week or so to recover from her shock. The old woman had burned her ruined dress and had given her some pants and shorts that had belonged to her late sons. The old man had suggested wearing a disguise to hide her wealthy and fair appearance to avoid any more occurrences of this matter. Mito had at first dismissed the idea, her pride too strong to lessen her appearance, even for her own safety. She had told the old couple about her situation, how she had left her wealthy family under certain circumstances. They convinced her that she no longer had her wealthy status to hide behind, and she eventually learned how to walk around without make-up and her ruined hair unstyled, and she learned how to wear boy's clothes. Having a wealthy appearance without the money or security that usually comes with it is a dangerous lifestyle.

Mito was having a hard time sleeping after the incident, and she realized she never wanted to experience that again. She hated conflict like that, and she had experienced this abuse a couple of times back home as well as in the cottage. Abuse from a man was the reason she had left her home and her status. She eventually decided to cut off all of her hair and take on the appearance of a boy. She had recently turned of age, 18, but with her new appearance, she resembled a 15 or 16 year old boy.

Cutting off her long and beautiful hair and completely abandoning her blossoming, womanly figure had been extremely hard for her. The old woman had understood, but she convinced her that hair always grows back and for the time being, it was more logical for her to appear as the status she was now; common and poor. Mito had abandoned her shallow pride when she had held a kunai to her scalp to replace it with a new hope of a new future where she didn't have to live under the pressure of being beautiful.

Mito sighed as she continued to play with her shaggy hair, the once inch short strands all gaining a couple inches over time where her bangs hung in her face and the rest of her hair stuck up in a messy style worn by a boy. She had refrained from grooming it, knowing her longer bangs would help cover her feminine eyes and the violet diamond in the center of her forehead that held her strength of a hundred seal.

_At least it's still as soft as it was when it was long._ Mito twirled her finger on a strand to the side of her right eye, the nervous tick becoming a habit whenever she tried to stop fussing over her appearance.

_I'm living as a boy now. All I want is to find a little job and live somewhere alone, peacefully._

Mito closed her eyes and smiled at the thought, of being able to pursue her art hobbies alone, without the pressure of a clan or the pressure of being a shinobi or the pressure of being _married_.

And not just married, but married to whomever your father damn well pleases at the moment.

Mito glared at the fire, trying to stop her thinking right then and there, knowing this track only led to her anger. She instead breathed in deeply and listened to the crackling of the fire, the flames dancing in the dark to their unique music of crackles and pops. The flames were forever moving, never resting in the same position, and it made her think of herself. The thought was oddly comforting, and she smiled at herself as she got up to see if the meat was done.

She ate quickly, wanting to get to sleep early so she would have an early start in finding the Hidden Village. She was lucky that she was talented in sensing others' chakras from far away and with a certain degree of clarity. She should be able to sense an entire village from a few hours away.

The meat was filling, and the sweet berries she had found balanced out the meal and left her feeling satisfied, her stomach no longer rumbling. She clenched the fire and threw dirt over the pit, the world now completely dark and ominous, making Mito feel alone. She snuggled into her sheets and closed her eyes, calming her mind and convincing herself she needed to sleep now.

_Tomorrow, I will start a new life._

* * *

_Stop fussing. That's not what a boy would do._

Mito forced her hands to stop fussing with her messy hair and breathed in deeply as she stood on a cliff overlooking a large collection of buildings, in the shadow of a large mountain. Everywhere was covered in green, from the dark leaves of the old trees to the bright green of the top leaves shining under the sun. It was a cloudless sky, the warm heat feeling comfortable with the slight breeze that caressed her body. She could imagine setting up an easel here and spending hours painting the beautiful landscape.

_Soon. First, I need to find a job and find somewhere to rent._

She set off downhill towards the clump of buildings, wondering where to start. From her little knowledge of this new village, the government system was new and unfinished and the process of finding a job was private. She would have to approach private business owners personally and ask for a job.

_With my status now, a parentless, clanless, moneyless young boy, I would only be able to apply for the lowest of jobs._

Mito cringed at the thought of cleaning dishes or serving others and referring to them as _Lord_ or _Lady_ or _sir_ and _ma'am_. She grew up never having to cook a meal or clean her room, but she knew now that that lifestyle had only led to dependence on others and an unappreciation for life. She clenched her hands as she approached a group of buildings and mentally smacked herself.

_I am in no place to be picky. I chose to leave the life of luxury, now I must accept this life and play by the rules. I'm starting low, but I will build myself up._

She nodded to herself from her determination. _This life will be better than the last. I will make it better._

She entered the clump of buildings and walked among the people here, noting the relaxed style of dress among the villagers that matched their easy-going expressions. People would talk lightly next to shops, and vendors would call out to people walking by to tell them of their sales. Mito entered a sort of market and she stopped short as a group of young children ran past, their smiles wide and their young eyes filled with energy and delight. The parents close by would call to their kids to be careful and then turn back to their friends, everyone in the area completely at ease with their neighbors. The sight and feeling made Mito smile, the rumors of peace that was said about this newly formed village holding true and releasing some tension from her tense stomach.

Mito looked around for a while, and quickly analyzed the structure of the market. The more established restaurants and stores are grouped closer to the mountain bordering the village, and the smaller businesses are scattered along the edge. She could tell this by watching the people who entered and left from the buildings, how they talked to each other and how they would regard her, a small, dirty, and travel-worn boy. Mito felt that she wouldn't have much luck at the cleaner and bigger stores, so she set off away from the stone mountain in search for 'hiring' signs on windows of some smaller stores.

_I can improve my appearance once I have a place to live. Then I can use the money I will gain from one of these small jobs to work my way higher._

Mito spent the next few hours scouring the countryside, visiting all of the little stores and asking if they had a position to hire. She quickly found her problem was the shop owners couldn't afford to hire another worker. Almost all of them needed more workers, but the economy of these smaller businesses was suffering.

_It seems that these people are the ones indirectly paying for this newly found peace. Peace among hundreds of people is wonderful to achieve, but it always comes at a price._

Mito at last found one small bar on the outer edge of the village, the small and run-down place barely holding up next to a local cemetery. The shopkeeper was a single old man, his squinted eyes bloodshot from too much alcohol and his beer belly assaulting his belt. The man had a stench that you could smell from ten feet away, and his judgmental eyes would bore into yours in search for something he could take and use to better his own life.

He was a dirty man, but he was a hiring dirty man. Seeing the state that the poorer people of the village were in made Mito want to approach whoever was running this village and give them a stern but polite complaint.

_Not yet. I need to establish a life here first to have any credit._

The man had taken one look at the small boy that Mito lived as and his eyes filled with a plotting light.

"Sir, I see you have a hiring sign. I would like to apply for whatever job you are offering," Mito said politely, letting her voice lower a degree to sound less feminine. She met the bloodshot eyes of the dirty man and watched as his expression turned sour into a scowl.

"I am, boy. I need a server to bring out food and clean the tables." He looked down on Mito with his judging eyes, eyeing her ragged clothing with a sense of ironic distaste. Mito looked back at him, and that act alone of keeping eye contact with who she was speaking to turned a switch in him and let out a nasty side.

"Who do you think you are, looking at me like that? Know your place, fool."

Mito blinked at him and his uncalled for offense, understanding quickly that keeping eye contact of someone of a higher status than you is seen as offensive or outright inconsiderate.

_The maids and the butlers back home would never keep eye contact with me longer than a few seconds, as a sign of respect. I guess that is what is expected of me here._

Mito blinked again and bowed her head, realizing this was another rule to the game she was playing. She bowed slightly to the dirty man, knowing that this was the first job opportunity to pop up in hours and that this was the first step to setting up a new life.

"I am sorry, sir. I am quite hungry. I am very willing and eager to work whatever job you could offer." Mito kept her eyes down, the feeling uncommon, and unpleasant.

_This path I have chosen to lead is tough._

Mito waited with her head bowed for the man to respond.

_This path doesn't require me to hurt others, though._

_This path, the path of a civilian and not of a shinobi, is rough and unfair, but I will never be asked to fight someone. I will never be asked to hurt someone._

The thought relaxed her nerves a bit, the relief of not having to hurt another person strengthening her resolve to live out this low path to see if it better suited her.

Because the life of a ninja, the life where she would have to hurt others and potentially end others' lives, the life where her high social status required her to plot against other people and devise plans to injure other nations to better her own, that life did not suit her.

She kept her position as the man responded to her apology.

"Hungry dogs are irritating. But hungry dogs will work hard for food." The man said in his growling voice, and Mito glanced up at him to read his expression. He nodded his head once, his angry eyes still glaring, and he turned to return back into the bar through the side door that led to the kitchen. Mito straightened up and followed the man slowly into the dark and gloomy confinement, trying not to breath in the foul stench too deeply. The man stopped near the sink and laid a heavy hand on the shoulder of a young girl, looking to be around ten. The small girl was just as grimy as the man, her apron dirty and her plain brown hair greasy, but her eyes shone an innocence and a kindness that heavily contrasted to him. The girl noticed Mito and her expression took in some fear from the strange boy. Mito smiled slightly at her, trying to ease some of her fear, and she watched the old man tighten his hold on the girl's shoulder.

"This is my daughter, Mina. I'm Ryota, this is my bar, and we serve the folk who visit the near-by cemetery." He glared down at Mito, and she remembered to nod slightly after looking down. "What are you called, dog?" He asked in his rough voice, the question hard but his insult not seeming personal. Mito guessed he treated anyone lower than him like this, and the thought that he wasn't personally offending her both pleased her and displeased her.

_Mito is a semi-feminine name._

Mito quickly thought on the spot, and responded with her humble tone.

"I'm Mituo, Ryota-san." She looked down after seeing him nod, and he addressed the younger girl, his daughter.

"Mina, show him around and tell him what he will be doing. We have customers coming from the cemetery," he said to Mina, and she nodded after wiping her hands on a towel. Ryota looked out the window to the side to see a few people walking forlornly from the cemetery, and he glared over at Mito one last time before he entered the bar to serve the customers.

Mito looked at the young girl slightly shaking, her limbs too skinny and her eyes full of fear. Mito frowned slightly at the sight, but she smiled kindly over to the frightened girl.

"Hi Mina, I'm Mituo. It's a pleasure to meet you." The girl blinked at her and swallowed, her small and bony hands wringing themselves. Mina's eyes were swarming with thoughts, and suddenly, she broke down crying right there in the kitchen.

"P-Please don't steal from my father, or h-he'll beat you too…" she sobbed quietly, and Mito shook herself from her shock. She slowly approached the crying girl, touching her softly on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Mina looked up at Mito with tear stained cheeks, and she continued.

"F-Father caught Nori stealing from the money box, and h-he beat him so badly he d-died a couple days later…" Mina shook as her arms came to hug her skinny chest, her heart visibly aching. Mito watched with wide eyes as this girl told her how her immediately recent employer had beaten a boy to death. _I'm probably filling in the position he left._ Mito's own mind was swarming with thoughts, and she felt herself back away from the girl and from this bar. Mina looked up at Mito's cautious and shocked expression, and her tone changed to a pleading one.

"F-Father didn't mean to though! He has just been so angry ever since mother died, but he didn't want to kill Nori!" Mina continued to sob, but her eyes were full of a desperation, a need to explain this to Mito. "Nori just stole all of the money we had, and Father got angrier…"

Mito stopped her retreat when she looked into the girl's eyes to see her truth, her honesty, and her pain.

_This small family is suffering. And they probably aren't the only ones._

Mina sniffled as she stopped her crying, and she looked back into Mito's eyes with a strong determination.

"That is why you shouldn't steal from Father, if that's why you are taking this job. I miss Nori, and I don't want to see it happen again…" She looked down, her shoulders slumping with sadness. Mito's brows came together, her heart hurting at the sight of this poor girl growing up in this horrible environment. Her mother dead, her father distressed and abusive, and her lifestyle in ruins. It seemed like most of their problems revolved around money, if these people result in violence.

_This economy needs to change._

Mito lightly rubbed the girl's shoulder, her thoughts swirling in her mind as she tried to figure out what to do. The girl looked up at her, her eyes wide and slightly cautious, and Mito remembered she was a guy. She took her hand away and smiled slightly, deciding she would stay here for now. Not only to earn some small money, but to watch out for this girl. Mito didn't worry about herself; she knew she could protect herself and this girl with her old ninja skills if she needed to.

"I will never steal, not from anyone. Don't worry about me." Mito told her lightly, convincing her with a smile. She smiled slightly back, but her eyes still held a fear. It looked like this fear was constant; always lurking in the back of her mind and forever marking her expression with the hardships she faced in her life, every day.

_This village, it looks promising and beautiful from the outside. It has the promise of peace, but the peace is only held by some with enough money and status. _

Mito closed her eyes, the things she had just experienced humbling her to a degree.

_I never thought I would get to live in a village from this point of view. I never would have known the hardships of these people if I had entered this village with my old status and wealth. _

Mito opened her eyes and looked at Mina, at her ragged apron and her bony shoulders, her fearful expression and her hopeless eyes.

_I will live this life. I will experience these hardships, I will feel the pain of these people, and I will work my way up the chain to a place where I can change this._

* * *

**Next chapter will have our wonderful Hashirama and Madara in it :).**

**I would love it if you let me know what you think. Other people's opinions and suggestions are the key to improving your writing, and I want to get better.**

**Thank you so much for reading. :)**


	2. Unspoken

**In this chapter, things actually start to happen.**

**I hope you enjoy. :)**

* * *

Mito scrubbed the counter with her rag, the alcohol spills from the countless drunken customers leaving stains on the old wood. Her rag was worn down from years of use, and she wondered if her labor was actually doing more good than bad. Her hands were sore from the constant scrubbing; Ryota was making her clean every inch of the bar for tonight. It was late afternoon; the sun was shining through the window on its way down from a long day, its rays lighting up the musky atmosphere of the bar that had become Mito's location of occupation.

_Almost done. Then I need to fire up the grill._

Mito pushed the barstools closer to the bar, checking the ground under them for any dirt and to her relief, finding none. She grabbed the rag with one hand and rubbed her sore neck with her other, wondering how much longer it would take for her body to finally get accustomed to the everyday labors of this life.

_I've lived here, working, for about a month now. Every day, for most of the hours of the day, I have cleaned and cooked and served in this lowly bar. _

Mito walked around the counter and entered the kitchen, disposing of the dirty rag into a sink and turning the water on hot to clean the remaining dishes.

_I have made a bit of money, though. By sleeping here in the kitchen every night and by eating the leftover food we have every day, I have been able to save almost all of my earnings. And while they may not be much, the little money added up over time._

Mito smiled slightly at the thought, her hands moving to scrub the dishes clean in the suds she had going in the sink. Her stomach growled in the constant hunger she always had, and she expertly ignored the painful whines. She had lost weight in the last month; she now looked even more like a skinny boy. Her last bits of baby fat that had been on the edges of her body had been replaced by lean muscle, the physical fruits of her labor.

She heard the back door to the kitchen open slowly behind her, the rusty hinges announcing the person's presence with a screech. Infusing a small bit of chakra, Mito instantly identified the person as Mina.

Mito looked over her shoulder to greet her friend, but she stopped short when she saw the young girl's face. Her face was pale, a light grey that looked unnatural and sickly. The small girl sniffled loudly, her small and bony hand reaching up to rub some redness into her nose. She slouched like she was extremely tired, exhausted from living. Every inch of her skinny body screamed that she was relieved to be home.

But her eyes, her eyes seemed dead. Lifeless. Hopeless, and sad.

Mito felt her heart clench and her brows furrow at the sight, and she turned the water off and approached the girl, wiping her hands dry on the towel she had hanging from her belt.

"Mina-chan, your cold has gotten worse, hasn't it?" Mito asked softly, causing the girl to look up at her slowly with her tired eyes. She nodded once, the effort seeming too much for her thin neck straining to hold up her head. Mito gently laid a hand on the girl's pointy shoulder in comfort, and the familiar anger began to boil deep inside Mito's stomach.

_This cold is more than just a common cold. All of the children have caught it, and the boy down the road died from it two nights ago._

Mito squeezed the girl's shoulder gently, trying to seep her comfort into the girl through touch.

_She seemed completely fine yesterday morning. I never would have thought she would be this sick in just a day._

_I can't stand seeing her like this. I can't wait much longer._

Mina looked up into Mito's eyes, her eyes holding the smallest sliver of hope that lit up the deadened look.

"Mituo-kun, is there any food?" She asked softly, and Mito smiled at her.

_Hunger is a good sign._

"Yes. I'll heat you up some soup, okay?" She asked the girl, and she nodded a couple times, her eyes shining a bit more with renewed hope. Mito turned and made her way to the stove, her face expressionless but her mind a raging mess of angry thoughts.

_Something needs to be done about this. I can't believe there isn't anyone else out there who can help these people. _

_Mina doesn't deserve this. None of the poor children deserve this._

Mito prepared the soup numbly, aware that the small girl had collapsed against a wall and was just sitting there looking lost in her own home, her sickness sapping the energy and the happiness out of her.

_I will do it tonight. I will use my medical ninjutsu on her and see if I can help her._

_There is no one else out there who can help her. These poor people are left, pushed out to the edges of the village, to suffer without causing the others too much worry and fend for their own._

Mito closed her eyes, and her guilt began to set in.

_I can't keep hiding from my ninja skills._

_I have to try and see if my little skill in medical ninjutsu can help them._

A memory flashed into Mito's mind then, an old memory that caused chills to run up her spine and make her shiver.

_Mito Uzumaki stood in the large courtyard inside her family's mansion. The maids were tending to the garden on the side, the colorful flowers beginning to bloom. Mito's father stood opposite from her, his face in a disappointed frown. Mito felt a bead of sweat drip down the back of her expensive training garb, and she swallowed as she tried to keep eye contact with her father._

"_Mito. For the last time, you need to actually try to _hit_ me when you throw a punch." He rubbed his forehead, his expression in a frown and his patience running thin. _

_Mito nodded and got in a fighting stance again. She clenched her fists, she widened her stance, and she eyed her father, analyzing his own stance and locating his open points that were the best place for her to land her hits. She prepared completely to deliver a precise and powerful punch, but she blinked when she tried to actually make her fist go forward. Her heart stopped her from moving, it froze her in place. Her heart reached through her limbs and held her still, unable to deliver the punch she was being asked to do. She looked at the person in front of her, her father, her family. Regardless of that, he was another person. A feeling, thinking person capable of feeling happiness and sadness. _

_And pain. He could feel pain, and he wanted Mito to _cause_ him pain._

_This thought tortured her mind and stayed her limbs, and she glared at herself as she forced her arm to approach her father at a fast speed, a speed that was capable of bruising him. She clenched her teeth, determined to do what her father wanted her to do in this training exercise, and she tried to ignore the screaming coming from her heart. Her heart was rejecting the thought of assaulting him with her fist, of potentially causing him to feel pain. She shut her eyes and grit her teeth and fought against her powerful instinct to lessen the power of the blow she had aimed at her father._

_She felt her fist collide with the hard muscle of his chest, and her legs weakened, threatening to give out from under her. He hadn't even tried to block her attack, because her previous attempts at sparring hadn't even warranted a block. She felt him stagger slightly from her blow, and that caused the welled up tears that had formed behind her eyes to slip from her closed eyelids. Her mind played the image in her mind clearly for her to see; her punch hitting her father in the chest, his arms open, letting her inflict pain, and then him taking a step back from the impact of her punch. She could imagine his strong face, always showing off his resolve and his power, show the slight surprise and the slight _pain_ from finally being hit by the shy young girl. This image assaulted her mind, and her legs gave out from under her as she recovered from the powerful punch. _

_She sunk to her knees, her head falling into her hands, and her eyes letting out the streams of confused tears. Her heart hurt, her heart was throbbing, and she wasn't even the one to get hit._

_She was the one who _had_ hit._

"_Father, I am so sorry…" Mito got out, her head still in her hands. She heard a deep chuckle come from above her, and she raised her head to glance up at her father. She expected his strong face to look at her with a slight pain coloring it, but she was met by surprise and excitement from his lit up gaze._

"_Mito, that was a punch! Don't apologize for that; I am proud." He told her sincerely, and Mito blinked at him._

"_But I _hit_ you, father…" she said, confused. She felt each beat of her heart throb a shockwave through her limbs, her mind trying to process something her heart was so furiously rejecting._

"_That's the point of fighting. You have to hit the other to beat them." Her father chuckled his low laugh again, his interest spiked from the potential he saw in his powerful daughter. Mito searched his eyes, seeing his strong belief that hitting others and causing them pain to beat them was his idea of the correct path._

"_But why do I have to beat them? Why can't we just talk and work together so no one gets hurt?" She asked almost desperately, trying to get her way of thinking into correct words for her father to understand. She watched him frown at her, his excited eyes showing a hint of disappointment as he was forced to explain something he felt shouldn't have to be explained._

"_There is war going on right now, as we speak, Mito. People will come and fight us because that's what people do, and you will have to defend yourself and your village when the day comes. Our family is known for producing strong shinobi capable of fighting. You must set aside your fears and your selfish desires and serve the home that raised you."_

_Mito swallowed her tears as she nodded at her father, her fists clenching in response. She understood what he meant, but that did not mean she agreed with it. _

Mito blinked from the memory, stirring the soup and making sure it had a lot of vegetables for Mina.

She had learned how to fight at a young age. Her father had honed her skills so she could be used as a weapon by her family against other families. Other families that had children like her who were forced to learn how to fight and kill to continue the cycle, the never-ending cycle that just led to more death and more pain.

She was old enough to see and realize this when she discovered that she could use her mastery of chakra control to help others, to heal others. She had found a very old and forgotten book hidden among her family's history that described jutsus that could heal peoples' wounds and save their lives. The discovery had been so wonderful and so perfect for Mito that she had wept from happiness after reading the old pages, the possibility of using her strength to heal the people being hurt every day sending her hopes high and her motivation to get stronger.

She had studied the old texts feverishly on her own, trying to teach herself these complex jutsus by herself and only being able to master very simple healing tricks without the help from a master.

It was her dream to be able to strengthen these powers and skills and maybe even build a hospital here in this village where anyone could come and get her help, without cost.

_Because you should never have to _pay _to get healed, to have your pain soothed._

_Every person, regardless of their wealth or their status, deserves to be healthy._

Mito shook her head slightly to free herself from her dreaming, the soup for Mina finished and the sky outside darkening, promising the arrival of paying customers.

She walked over to the collapsed girl by the wall, her tired eyes slowly rising to see the steaming cup of soup.

"Here you go, Mina-chan. Eat up." Mito said softly in her lowered voice, and Mina smiled slightly as she received the cup and spoon with shaking hands. Mito felt something punch her in the heart at the sight of her weakness, but she quickly returned to the stove to heat up some food for the night.

Mito got to work preparing food, the steam from the giant pots of noodles stinging her callused hands and making her sweat slightly from the heat. She pulled out boxes of wine and barrels of beer, counting and accounting for the number of bottles of sake they had in store and calculating how many they could afford to sell tonight. She felt the presence of Ryota approach her from behind, his meaty and masculine scent announcing his presence stronger than his chakra signature did.

"Boy, I need you to serve tonight. A couple of important Lords are approaching from the cemetery and they no doubt have yen in their pockets."

Mito watched the greedy light enter the man's hungry face, and she tried not to sigh. Of course, his hunger was both greedy hunger but also regular food hunger, because there was never enough food to go around anyways.

"Yes, Ryota-san. By the way, you have enough sake for the next two and a half months, but you will need to purchase more meat than you do now in about three weeks if you plan to continue having me cook this amount every night." Mito tried to warn him after looking over what they had in store, and she immediately cringed from her mistake.

_Damn it, I did it again. I always forget he hates it when I try to help when he's like-_

_**-SMACK-**_

Mito staggered two steps as Ryota back-handed her. She held up a hand to her stinging cheek and tried not to glare up at the fuming man, his eyes boring into hers with an angry light.

"Did I _ask_ for your opinion, boy? I don't have time to deal with this right now. Finish with the noodles and take the customers' orders, or I won't pay you another coin." He told her angrily, and Mito hid her eye roll under her long red bangs.

_Stubborn idiot._

Ryota had actually been taking her advice about money management for the last few weeks now. Mito had a knack for managing money and gauging how long things would last and how best to buy them in bulk, and Ryota had been listening to her advice, finding her way was much more cost effective.

He, however, has a very bad anger problem, and has found that his favorite source of outlet is abusing the boy working like a slave under him. Mito knew she didn't deserve the petty abuse, but he had raised her pay by a large amount after she had saved him a lot of money, and she was willing to withstand this dirty man's issues for a while longer.

For his daughter.

They heard a wet, choking cough from the corner of the dark kitchen, and they both swung their heads to see the small girl holding her empty cup with both hands.

Ryota's face immediately softened, his tense shoulders relaxing and his angry face losing some of its redness. They small girl approached him and laid her small, delicate hand on his beefy arm, capturing his beady eyes with her big innocent ones.

"Please be nice to Mituo-kun, father… He made me soup," she said softly, and the big man softened. He got out a rough apology, his still angry eyes looking vaguely in Mito's direction, his hand softly caressing the girl's thin hair. Mito closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly, finding this action good for almost any occasion as she chuckled internally at the strange family she was living and working with.

The bell on the front door rang; signaling the arrival of the first customers for the night and making the three turn their heads toward the bar. Mito took her apron off and hung it on a hook near the stove, Mina went to start washing the last of the dishes, and Ryota peeked out the kitchen door to size up the customers.

Mito washed her hands and grabbed the small pad of paper and was about to head out into the bar to greet the customers when she felt Ryota's heavy hand grab her thin wrist.

She looked over at him, a question in her eyes. He looked at her with less malice than usual, but with a serious expression that could almost be seen as threatening.

"Listen up, boy. Those two men are some of the richest and famous men in the village. You will do everything in your power to see to them and represent out bar." He kept a firm hold on Mito's wrist, and she nodded at him before lowering her eyes. "You will watch your tone and remember your place." He looked at her accusingly, both of them knowing she had trouble talking to superiors. She nodded again and pulled her wrist from his grip, turning to enter the light of the bar.

She scanned the room, finding several people sitting and chatting in various groups, some at the bar and some at the tables. She found the two men Ryota was speaking about immediately, their attire of a higher quality and the air… the air around them having a powerful field. Mito's eyebrows rose.

_They are powerful shinobi. _

She talked to the men at the bar, taking their orders and fetching bottles and glasses for them, her mind still on the two _extremely _powerful shinobi in the bar she worked at.

_I don't think I have ever sensed a chakra more powerful than the two of them._

_It's overwhelming!_

She remembered her intense chakra control training from a long time ago. Where others of her clan were good at taijutsu and ninjutsu, she excelled at fuinjutsu, which requires a mastery of chakra control. She was able to build up an extremely specific amount of chakra in her system at any time, and she also could continuously summon an immense amount of chakra over long periods of time. She had focused years of chakra and energy into the purple diamond on her hidden forehead; her true expert accomplishment of chakra control mastery.

She was able to completely control the chakra flowing through her body, and she chose to hide it. She masked her chakra from the two powerful men sitting at the table over there, to keep her poor disguise as long as she could.

After tending to the other customers who had arrived first, she approached the two men, her eyes soaking up their unique appearances.

One man, tall and powerful, sat laughing at his companion, his composure completely relaxed and his eyes crinkled in a smile. He had tan skin and straight, long brown hair that flowed down his back, reminding her of how her old hair looked. From just a glance, his eyes held a deep kindness and a profound patience, his sureness contributing to the authority he gave off.

The other man seemed just as powerful as he looked down at his hands thoughtfully, his half-hidden face smiling slightly in response to the other's laughter. His black, spiky hair lay in contrast to the other's straight hair, and he gave off a relaxed feel as well. His eyes, however, held a sort of guarded sadness, a hurtful past that was currently on his mind.

Mito walked up to the two, her head bowed, and tried not to interrupt.

"Excuse me my Lords, may I get you anything?" she asked politely in her lowered tone, glancing up to gauge their reactions. The laughing man turned and smiled at her warmly, meeting her eyes with more respect than she had expected from them.

"Yes, I'll just have a sake, and my friend here will have one as well," he spoke with a deep but kind voice, his genuine smile reaching his eyes. The other man met Mito's eyes with a dark intelligence, his curiosity for some reason sparked. Mito nodded at them and turned to return to the kitchen, feeling the eyes of both of the men on her back, causing her caution to rise.

_Who are those men?_

Mito retrieved the sakes and returned to their table, their talking halting when she approached. Mito placed the glasses in front of them and then met their eyes, seeing them both on her.

"Can I get you anything else?" She asked, and she watched the two dark pairs of eyes watch her back. The straight-haired man tilted his head slightly and his relaxed brows came together in a slight frown, thinking.

"That will be all for me for now, thank you. But would you tell me your name?" He asked curiously, and Mito raised her eyebrows at him.

_My name? Why would he care about my name?_

She blinked at him but kept completely composed, watching him through her long bangs.

"I am Mituo, my Lord." She responded, forgetting to lower her gaze and her mind abandoning the respectful habits that the lower classes were expected to follow in her own curiosity. "What is your name?" She asked without thinking, and she immediately mentally smacked herself in her stupidity. She watched his eyebrows rise a bit but his smile turned warmer as he responded.

"I am Hashirama, and this is Madara," he introduced his friend, and Mito tried to recover from her expectations.

_These lords should be angry with me, or at least shocked at my impolite behavior. _

"You must be new around here," the other man said softly, the one named Madara. Mito met his reserved gaze and she nodded, not sure she should say more. Madara sipped his sake as Hashirama spoke to her.

"Well, what do you think of our village?" He asked her with a slight excitement in his voice, his arms spreading slightly as if to gesture to the village as a whole, and Mito felt he really cared what she would say.

But the way things work with classes, Mito was not expected to give an honest answer. She was expected to give the right answer.

_Ryota would lose it if I told these men what I actually thought. _

Mito closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly, imperceptibly sighing as she thought of what she should say.

"It's a beautiful village, a good start after a painful and pointless war." She cringed once again as she unconsciously gave her opinion, and continued. "I think… this works in theory, and it has a lot of potential." She tried to phrase it without completely bashing on the village, knowing that the opinions of a lowly serving boy was just as valuable as a dog's.

She watched the two men blink, and she hated and regretted that she couldn't outright lie about her opinions. Not when her opinions were this strong.

Madara watched her curiously, leaning on an elbow and holding his drink loosely in his hand.

"You think this village works in theory?" He asked, his tone actually interested and showing no signs of contempt for her honesty. Hashirama also looked at her thoughtfully, and with the same amount of interest and patience.

Mito tried to work her way out of this, not ready to make her opinions known to these two unknown lords.

"I am sorry, I'm not sure what I meant," she tried to excuse herself, losing eye contact with the two men and trying to look confused at her own words. Neither of the men challenged her, to her great relief, but she could feel that they didn't believe her.

She was about to try and excuse herself when she felt Hashirama reach out a hand slowly towards her face. She blinked at him, startled, as his fingers gently brushed her bangs to the sides of her face, revealing her eyes and her forehead. She physically flinched when she watched his and Madara's curious eyes alight on her strength of a hundred seal, and the two powerful men's curious reactions to her became clear.

_They can sense the vast amount of chakra I have stored here, even with me masking my chakra._

"I apologize, Mituo-kun, but I've never seen this strange diamond on anyone before," Hashirama said thoughtfully as he lightly ran his thumb over the diamond, making Mito shiver.

_You've never seen it, because I invented it._

"I, um, it's from my old family, Lord Hashirama," Mito stuttered out, completely uncomfortable under the too comfortable hand of this man.

"Hashirama, you're scaring the poor boy," Madara said lightly, slightly amused, and Hashirama looked over at his friend incredulously with a confused expression. He looked back at Mito to realize she was blinking at him wide-eyed from his sudden contact with her forehead, and the man's previously energetic and excited face fell as his hand fell from her forehead.

Hashirama's head fell and his shoulders slumped, his composition taking a complete 180 degree turn from his previous personality as he exuded a depressed feeling.

"I am sorry, Mituo-kun…" Mito blinked at him and then blinked at Madara, the guarded, dark eyes of his watching her with an amused and curious expression. He smiled at her slightly and shook his head at his suddenly moody companion.

"Don't worry about him, he'll get over it soon." Madara looked at her from behind his curtain of dark hair, his guarded eyes showing a hint of kindness. "You must have a powerful family, Mituo." He neglected to ask the obvious question of where they are now, and why she was living here and working here instead of living with a clan.

"I, well, I haven't seen them in a while, Lord Madara," she got out, feeling slightly bare and vulnerable under the powerful vision of this man. She glanced over to see the other man recover from his depression, his eyes filling with light again and his hand bringing his sake to his lips.

_What a strange pair._

"Well Mituo-kun, I think I would actually like a bowl of noodles," Hashirama said, and Mito nodded and glanced at Madara to see if he also wanted something.

"I'll have one as well," he said nonchalantly, taking a sip from his sake and acting like everything was normal.

Mito made her way to the kitchen, her hand messing with her bangs to hood her eyes again and cover the diamond on her forehead.

_What just happened?_

Mito shook her head slightly and reached for two bowls to fill with noodles, glancing around at the other customers and deciding when she should return to them. She caught Ryota's gaze as he watched her take the food out to the bar, his eyes silently threatening.

_The poor are absolutely terrified by the rich. So terrified that we can't even admit how horrible our living conditions are._

Mito returned with the two bowls, the two strange and powerful men watching her place them on the table. She did her best to keep her eyes down like she was supposed to, but she had to look up when they thanked her kindly.

She looked up at them and met their eyes to smile slightly at their kindness, appreciating how nice these two rich lords were to her. Both of their smiles dropped suddenly when she met their eyes, and both of their brows narrowed simultaneously, surprising Mito. This time, Madara held a hand out to her face, but she still flinched when his surprisingly gentle fingers touched her cheekbone.

"You're swelling," he stated softly, and Mito cursed herself internally, completely forgetting the smack Ryota had given her. It had just started to swell, and she winced as the lord's fingers lightly touched her cheek. Both of their expressions darkened, and both of them became instantly serious, changing to mood and the atmosphere in the bar to a much scarier one.

"Um, oh, it's fine," Mito tried to hide her face by bowing her head, but Hashirama's hand now reached for her chin. She tried to escape the gazes of these powerful men to save her own skin, knowing she would suffer consequences if Ryota was watching this.

Hashirama grasped her chin gently and raised her face to look at his, the two wealthy lords forgetting their soups and sake and looking at this sign of abuse among the poor like they had never seen it before.

Hashirama raised his other hand, his expression holding some sadness, and his hand began to glow a slight blue, the color of-

_..._

…

_Medical Ninjutsu?!_

Mito's mind wailed in confusion as she watched this powerful shinobi bring his healing hand to her cheek and quickly and masterfully heal the bruise she had, without any trouble.

_He._

_He has medical powers._

_He, a rich and wealthy man, who lives in this village, can heal people._

Mito felt her pent up anger threaten to boil over.

_Kids are dying in this part of the village._

_Mina… Mina is in danger._

_Because there was no one here with better skills than I._

_**Or so I thought.**_

Mito clenched her hands and tried everything she could to contain her anger, to hide this new piece of information without reacting to it how she wanted.

Because she wanted to yell at this man.

She wanted to scream at him the names of the kids that died from this cold last week.

The names of the countless people who have died from simple infections that started from small cuts.

She wanted to demand him to tell her why he was keeping his wonderful powers of healing people to himself.

Or to just the wealthy people.

Mito shut her eyes and jerked her head away from him, causing the two to raise their eyebrows in confusion to her strange reaction to being healed.

_That's it. I can't take it anymore._

_THAT'S IT._

She shot her eyes open and glared full on at the wealthy, powerful ninja, taking him completely by surprise.

"You can _heal_ people?!" She stared into his wide eyes, giving up on hiding her anger. "Are you not _aware_ that the people here have been _dying_ recently?!"

The chatter from the rest of the people in the bar shut off instantly, everyone staring at the small, aggravated server boy, yelling with conviction at the two most famous men in the entire village.

Mito glared at him, this Lord Hashirama, and waited for his response. His excuse.

_Give me an excuse. I will shoot it down._

Hashirama and Madara looked completely shocked, and so did the rest of the people in the bar. The other wealthier people in similar shock as the lords, and the poorer people in complete fear at how the server boy had actually had the gall to speak up to the wealthier.

_I don't care anymore._

_I care about these poor children._

Mito continued to glare at the two, demanding an answer. Demanding an excuse.

Hashirama's brows came together in confusion, and then his expression contorted into one full of sadness, and pain.

"People have… been dying recently?" He spoke in an almost whisper, his shock apparent. Mito felt her glare soften a bit, realizing that the two wealthy lords might not have any knowledge of these lowly deaths at all.

_Of course… the poor are much too frightened of the rich to ask for help. These lords… could potentially have no clue that the poor children have been dying._

Hashirama continued to blink in shock and in sadness as Madara's expression changed from shock to a similar anger as Mito.

"Why haven't we been informed of this?" He asked quietly, his angry and quiet tone extremely menacing. His dark eyes searched Mito's, and she blinked when she realized that they must have been completely in the dark. Half of the people in the bar stood up hastily from this commotion, leaving the bar in a rush to get away from these two powerful shinobi. The lower class people were staring at Mito like she was insane, and they too slipped out of the bar in fear of the powerful, now emotional lords.

Ryota opened the kitchen door quickly to see all of his business gone, and he laid his enraged eyes on Mito in complete malice. He walked quickly over to her and the lords and he grabbed the back of her neck with his large hand, squeezing her and giving her bruises on her neck in a warning. He looked with utter fear up at the disturbed lords and stuttered out an apology.

"I am extremely sorry my Lord Hashirama and my Lord Madara, please excuse my deranged server boy, he will be _severely _punished," he said as he gripped Mito's hair in his fist and dragged her to the kitchen with him, causing her to cry out in pain from the yanking. Her cry earned her another yank, and she gritted her teeth as tears came to her eyes from a combination of the pain and from the anger she held for this horrible situation in this village. She tried to glance back at the lords one last time but Ryota dragged her into the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.

He threw her on the floor, and Mito scraped her palms trying to lessen her fall on the rough ground. She looked up in time to see his crazed eyes look down at her evilly, his expression full of anger and full of a gripping _fear_. He threw his fist at her face and punched her into the ground, the quite sobs of Mina coming from the side of the kitchen. This didn't stop the fearful assault of him as he kicked Mito in the stomach, causing her to cough up blood and curl into a fetal position on the ground.

_Why is this system so completely messed up?_

Mito expected another kick and she shut her eyes, her mind telling her she should fight back and show this horrible man what a trained ninja can do, but her heart rejecting the thought of returning any pain. She heard a muffled gasp come from above her and she peeked an eye open, meeting a sight that made her widen both of her eyes.

The two lords, both standing in this low and dirty kitchen, held Ryota back with a fearful strength. Their arms held him tightly, Hashirama's eyes looking grief stricken and pain-filled at the sight of Mito, and Madara looking furious as he took in the sight of an irate and disturbed man beating a boy like an animal in front of a young girl.

Mito blinked as the two lords roughly removed Ryota from the bar, one of them procuring rope to tie his hands behind his back. Mito tried to get up from the floor, but a pain in her chest cut into her lungs and caused her to gasp out loud. She felt Mina run to her on the ground, and the small, cold hands of the girl tried to raise Mito's head and rest her on her lap. The girl began to sob furiously, her hands running through Mito's hair as if to see if she was still there, and her head bending down to let her tears fall on Mito's cheeks. Mito desperately wanted to be able to get up and comfort the poor girl, but she currently couldn't move much without the risk of passing out from pain.

"Shh, shh, Mina it's alright," Mito said softly, but that made Mina cry even harder. Mito raised her arms and caressed the girl's face and rubbed her back while she tried to think of how she could heal herself.

_Seeing as I can't breathe deeply without severe pain, and I can't move my chest without severe pain, he might have broken a rib. _

Mito continued to shush and soothe the girl, her teeth gritting in agony and her mind whirling.

_How am I going to heal a broken bone?_

_I only know how to heal skin and muscle._

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt Mina being lifted off of her by an unknown person. Mina fought to get out of the person's arms and return to Mito on the floor of the kitchen, but the adult was adamant.

Mito looked up to see Hashirama's stressed face look down at hers with more pain and sadness in his eyes than she had ever seen, and she closed her eyes, her own physical pain beginning to become too much to bear. Her side felt on fire, like something was puncturing her chest and putting pressure on her lung every time she took a breath. She tried to keep her eyes open as she watched Hashirama soothe Mina in his strong arms, and Madara lightly scoop her up into his also strong arms. She met Madara's intense gaze as he brought her into the sanctity of his arms, and she suddenly felt safe with these two men looking after a distressed Mina and her broken body.

_I… I really messed up this family…_

Mito tried to form coherent thoughts as she felt the two men take her and Mina out of the cramped kitchen and the muggy bar.

…_But maybe it was a good thing…_

_Maybe I can finally get the people here some help…_

Mito rested her head against the lord's hard chest, and she let her body relax into his sturdy arms as her mind succumbed to a comforting darkness.

* * *

**Thank you so much more reading, I would be so happy if you let me know what you think :).**

**Have a wonderful day!**


	3. Recovering

**I'm sorry has taken forever to update, but here is a long chapter. I hope you enjoy. :)**

* * *

Mito Uzumaki opened her eyes slowly, her eyelids feeling stiff. She blinked a few times to see a foreign ceiling with swirling patterns, the material giving it a wealthy feel.

_Am I back home?_

Mito turned her head to the side to see herself alone in a big, windowless room, covered in beautifully wooden carved furniture on an expensive red carpet, the large space feeling weird to Mito after so long being cramped in that dirty kitchen.

_Dirty kitchen… _

_Mina! And Ryota!_

Mito inhaled as she remembered the last thing she could. She was serving the customers in the bar like she did every night, and two of the customers were powerful lords, and she had gotten angry and had scared the others out of the bar, causing Ryota to…

Mito tensed her arms and struggled to sit up on the comfortable bed, the soft sheets feeling heavenly on her skin after sleeping on the hard floor for so long. She gasped and clutched the blankets to her chest when she realized she was shirtless under the sheets, and her caution was tripled as she searched around the room suspiciously.

She found the remnants of her old and ratty shirt on the floor of the carpet beside the bed, contrasting against the pristine red carpet, along with the cut up bandages she always had wrapped around her chest to conceal her feminine figure.

_Well, so long with the disguise._

She found another loose shirt neatly folded next to her old one, and she cautiously picked it up and quickly slipped it on, her eyes on the closed sliding door leading from the room she was in. The shirt was made of a clean and soft material, subtly soothing her tensed nerves as her mind remembered a time where the softness was expected in her everyday life. She felt a slight soreness coming from her chest, and she remembered how that night in the bar had ended.

Running her fingers along the flawless skin of her chest, she realized she had been healed masterfully. The image of the tall, tanned lord with long brown hair came across her eyes, of his open expression and his kind eyes softening the immense power that brewed in him.

_Would that lord have healed me?_

Mito moved the rest of the blankets off of her legs and struggled to stand up, wavering from her sore muscles and her stiff limbs. Her stomach rumbled as she kneaded her bare toes into the soft carpet. She could vaguely remember eating a spare piece of bread for breakfast the day the lords came to her bar, and her stomach told her it had been a while sense then that she had anything to eat. She shook herself awake, and then infused a bit of chakra to search the unknown building she was in.

Her sense sparked all around her, letting her know there were multiple people milling around the many rooms of this building. She recognized very few, and her eyes widened when she sensed a powerful chakra approach the room she was in. Completely confused and worried about her own safety and the safety of the absent Mina, she stood frozen as the door slid open slowly.

A man's head popped in, his spiky hair snow white and his perceptive eyes narrowed in search. He met Mito's surprised eyes instantly, and he slowly entered the room, leaving the door open. Mito, once again, forgot her manners and stared openly at the strange man, meeting his sharp gaze with her own.

"I see you're awake." He stated in a deep but not unkind tone, his body language mostly relaxed but his eyes showing his sharp awareness. Mito nodded in response, not knowing what she should say and feeling uncomfortable in this unknown house with this unknown man. She did know one thing for sure, however, and it was that somebody had healed her.

"I don't know where we are, but I am appreciative for being healed." She watched him nod back at her, and he replied.

"My brother healed you; our house was in quite an uproar last night."

Mito watched this strange man, she watched his movements and his speech and body tone, and she sensed no bad intent from him. He walked over and sat down in one of the decorative chairs against a wall, his arms crossing as he thought, and Mito continued to watch him and wait. He watched her back, his eyes just as calculating as hers, and he continued.

"I looked out the window last night to see my brother and Madara hurrying towards our compound, each carrying a small child in their arms. Before I knew it, Hashirama had set up a clinic in this room and had tended to your injuries." He paused and watched her some more, his curiosity showing in his expression as Mito kept herself from fidgeting under his intense gaze. "The two were very surprised when they began operation."

Mito bowed her head, understanding what he meant.

_I'm sure I would be startled as well to find the boy I'm about to heal turn out to be female. And to find out in such a brunt way._

She sighed slightly, her hand coming up to rub the back of her head as she thought, and she sat on the edge of the large bed, feeling a hint of a bit safer after her instinct told her this person meant no harm.

"My name is Mito Uzumaki, and I am from the Land of the Eddies." Mito felt out of place saying these words because she felt like a completely different person from the one who left her home months ago. She looked up to see something register in the man's eyes, and she suspected he knew of her old clan.

"I am Tobirama Senju, brother to Hashirama and one of the counselors who govern this village." He paused, his arms still crossed, and he looked over to the direction of the doorway. "You can come in, now." He spoke to the person waiting outside the door, and a girl in a maid uniform a little older than Mito walked in cautiously, her eyes darting over to meet hers and her expression showing a bit of fear. Mito watched her as she held out a tray of food for her, and Mito felt her expression relax as she received the tray, smiling at the frightened server girl.

"Thank you," Mito said, and the girl's expression relaxed as well, her tightened mouth forming a small smile as she nodded and bowed. She turned back towards the doorway and left, her shoulders less tense. Mito looked down at the appetizing food, the bowl of rice still steaming and the eggrolls or spring rolls still crisp. The sushi looked so beautiful in its pinkish color, its elegant display reminding her of her old life. The smell wafted up to meet her nose, causing her empty stomach to growl slightly, but she turned and set the tray next to her on the bed, returning her gaze to the watchful white-haired man.

He watched her for a second, and then shifted slightly in his seat.

"You must be hungry, feel free to eat now as we speak," he said kindly, and Mito smiled at him slightly in thanks.

"Thank you, Lord Tobirama, but I have a habit to wait seven minutes before eating food given to me from a wealthy house," Mito replied, and then flinched when she realized how absolutely rude that was from her, from a poor girl who had just been _healed_ by a rich lord and was currently being kept as a guest in this beautiful home.

She noticed Tobirama's eyes widen for a split second, and his thin mouth lifted a millimeter.

"Seven minutes? I must admit I am curious as to why."

Mito looked down and frowned at herself, trying to word her thoughts properly and kindly.

"It takes seven minutes… for all currently known poisons to eventually show themselves in food…" she brought a hand up and rubbed the back of her neck again. "I don't expect your food to be poisoned, but I have an irrational fear when dining with a foreign family." Mito glanced up and gave an apologizing look to the lord. "I am very appreciative for the food and for the healing; I have done nothing to deserve this kindness and I will try to eventually pay you back for hosting me."

_I deserve to be yelled at actually, after my rude and emotional performance to his brother and the other lord in the bar that night._

_It was irresponsible of me, yelling at them like that in public. I was just emotional from my fear after seeing Mina progressively get sicker._

Mito watched the lord uncross his arms from his relaxed sitting position and give her a larger smile.

"Why would my family poison you after going to lengths to heal you?" He asked interestedly, and Mito smiled a half-smile and looked down, shrugging her shoulders in agreement.

"I agree, it would be a waste of time and chakra healing me to just kill me later. You could get away with it easily by saying my injuries were worse than they were and you couldn't save me, so you wouldn't waste the bed or the food, or the poison. Unless…" Mito looked away and chuckled at herself. "Unless you still needed information from me concerning my past or my family or my power. Or so you can leave Mina in my responsibility and not have to care for her yourself."

Mito met the raised eyebrows of the lord and gave an apologizing expression again.

"I do not expect any of that from your family, but that is how my fearful mind rationalizes it after some bad experiences. I feel no threat from you or your brother or from that maid, but that does not mean someone else couldn't have poisoned it without your noticing." Mito looked down, embarrassed. "I apologize for being quite paranoid, and I really am thankful that your family has been kind to me."

Mito heard a soft chuckling come from the lord, and she looked up to see him smiling at her slightly. His eyes watched hers curiously, but he looked relaxed, surprisingly for just hearing her suspicion that the food he gave her might be poisoned.

"I asked why seven because from my own research, I thought all known poisons show their effects on food in four and a half minutes, not seven."

Mito nodded in understanding, and shifted on the bed to get more comfortable.

"All of the known poisons in this general area of the continent show themselves in four and a half minutes, but there is a poison that grows to the far west where sand replaces dirt and grass that takes almost seven whole minutes to soil the appearance of the food. It comes from inside some cactus plants."

Mito scratched the back of her head and then twirled a strand of her short hair on the side of her face.

"However, if there is no meat in the food, then you only have to wait three minutes, because it takes longer for the poison to show its effects on meat. This sushi looks delicious, but it also told me your family is wealthy enough to afford fish from the sea, and that is a long journey from here that would make it expensive, and about the same length it would take for the delivery of the poison from the desert. Since you can afford seafood, you should be able to afford a poison from a long distance away."

Mito blinked and then looked down, intending to apologize again for her paranoia, when she heard the lord shift in his seat once again. She looked up to see him leaned forward on his chair, his hands clasped and his elbows resting on his knees.

"I do not blame you one bit for your suspicion and your caution. I do the same when receiving food from strangers, and it is good to know I should wait seven minutes to be completely safe." Tobirama's eyes stayed in their slits, but his mouth turned up slightly in a smile. "But I must ask, about that diamond on your forehead. The power emanating from it has caused us to be cautious, and it is a reason I cannot currently trust you." His eyes moved from hers to the center of her forehead, and she felt the violet diamond slightly vibrate on her skin. She nodded and moved a hand to brush away her bangs, exposing her Strength of a Hundred Seal to his sharp eyes. With some difficulty, she removed what little chakra she used to try and hide the power emitting from the diamond, and she watched his eyes widen a hair when he felt the full presence of the chakra she had stored over many years.

"So you _are_ a shinobi, able to manipulate your chakra, and quite proficiently." He stood slowly and took a few steps closer to her, reaching a hand out to touch her forehead without thinking. Mito flinched when his finger made contact with her skin, reminding her of how curious and comfortably brave his brother was. He did however notice her suspicion, unlike his brother, and he withdrew his hand and looked down at her with his expressionless eyes.

"I apologize, I have just never felt such a large and concentrated amount of chakra before." He crossed his arms and continued to look down at her thoughtfully, while Mito tried not to fidget under the scrutiny.

"Well, yes. That's actually all it is, chakra I have concentrated and stored over some time." Mito brought a hand up and ran a finger over the diamond absently, remembering the long years she had to continuously meditate to acquire this amount. "You may think I can use it as a weapon, but I have not yet been able to figure out a way to use it. It really is just the product of my chakra control training and meditation."

Mito looked up to meet his guarded slits, watching her and looking for reasons to not trust her as he thought on her words.

_I can understand his caution. Caution is what has kept me alive._

She blinked at him, wondering what else she could say or do to convince him of her honesty, but another matter was pressing on her mind.

_Where is Mina? And Ryota?_

"Lord Tobirama, may I see Mina? I am worried about her." Mito asked the stoic man, and he breathed in deeply and then sighed, the creased lines in his face slightly relaxing.

"You may, she is resting in our family's infirmary. Hashirama is working on a medicine to cure the sickness that is spreading among the lower class people." He looked over to the door thoughtfully, and then looked back at Mito. "We are appreciative that you told us of the sickness spreading right under our noses. I never would have thought that people would keep that a secret from us."

Mito bowed her head and smiled a bit in embarrassment, remembering her rage. _But perhaps my rage will do more good than bad._

"The people are afraid of power, and of dependence. They are afraid that the powerful shinobi who run this village will grow greedy and power hungry and suppress the people and ravage the land, like they did during the war, and they want to hide as much of their problems as they can to be complacent." She looked up to meet his silent gaze, trying to word her opinions kindly. "The war left us with a fear of shinobi, a fear of their destructive power. But what they need is to realize that our power can be used for good, however scary it might be."

Mito watched his sharp eyes soften a bit, and then he closed them.

"You remind me of my brother, Mito." He opened his eyes and looked at the tray next to her on the bed. "It has been seven minutes now, you must be hungry."

Mito blinked at him and then smiled, and shook her head.

"It has been six and a half minutes. Please forgive me for waiting the extra thirty seconds, my lord."

Mito watched his mouth turn up into a knowing smile, and he nodded, his eyes glinting in enjoyment and appreciation.

"It is refreshing to meet someone intelligent and observant. This village needs more people like you, Mito-san." He told her casually as he turned and walked towards the door, stopping to look back at her still sitting on the comfortable bed. "My brother is coming to speak with you now, he'll be here soon." He smiled the small smile again, his slitted eyes narrowing a bit. "But you might already know that."

Before Mito could thank him, he left the room, leaving her alone with the high ceiling and the expensive furniture. Mito looked down at the delicious looking food as she counted the last few seconds.

_I do know Lord Hashirama is approaching. How could Lord Tobirama know I have sensory skills?_

Mito looked up to meet the energetic gaze of Hashirama as he peeked into her room, his eyes curious but cautious. His presence carried the enormous wave of power he held, which contrasted heavily to his mellow composure and his soft eyes. He wore comfortable and casual clothes, like his brother had. Mito looked down, letting her bangs fall to cover her eyes, embarrassed at what he would say concerning her behavior to him in the bar and her deceit about her being female.

_Will he scold me? He seemed like a kind man, and if he had healed me then-_

_I need to thank him for healing me._

Mito looked up and met his eyes with her own, and she opened her mouth to thank him when he beat her with his own words.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her in a kind tone, his brows narrowing in concern and his hands clasping together. Mito stopped with her mouth open, and then she blinked and answered.

"I am feeling wonderful, thank you Lord Hashirama. And thank you for healing me, after my rude behavior in the bar…" Mito looked away, her hand coming to rub the back of her neck. "I was emotional because I was worried about Mina, and yet you and Lord Madara still went out of your way to help us and then heal me."

Mito glanced up at him through her bangs to see his smile relieved, and his shoulders less tense. This gave her the courage to look at him directly, and he surprised her by randomly bursting out laughing. He filled the wealthy-feeling room with his merriment, his good nature rubbing off on her slightly.

"Oh, nothing to worry about, it was no problem!" He chuckled and then smiled at her, taking a few steps into the room to get out of the doorway. "I am glad you told me what you did, and that Madara and I could help you."

Hashirama strode over to her and comfortably sat down right next to her on the bed, surprising her as he turned to smile at her again. Mito swallowed, slightly unnerved at his sudden close proximity, and then spoke.

"Um, I am Mito Uzumaki, my lord, from the Land of the Eddies," Mito struggled to get the words out as the lord absently reached over her lap towards the tray of food that sat next to her and grabbed an eggroll. She felt his close distance from her rise her caution, and the only thing that kept her there was the sincere calm she felt exude from him.

She watched him with widened eyes as he took a bite out of the eggroll and tilted his head to the side, thinking far away.

"Of course, the Uzumaki clan. I should have recognized your brilliant hair from the beginning," he said as he shifted next to her to get more comfortable on the bed. Mito blinked and tried to keep herself from inching away from this strange lord, who seemed completely oblivious to social customs and peoples' reactions to him. She watched him open his mouth to say something else when he suddenly stopped in his mid-thought, his eyes widening and his smile forming once again.

"These eggrolls are absolutely delightful! I will have to compliment Michi on his extraordinary skills." Hashirama closed his eyes and smiled contently; seeming to take a moment to enjoy his house's cooking, and then he opened his eyes and looked at Mito's widened ones. "Have you tried them? I can ask Michi to make us some more if you'd like, however he might be busy preparing for supper."

The lord finished his eggroll and reached for another, once again leaning over and causing Mito to smell his clean and fresh scent as he obliviously pushed against her personal bubble.

"Uh, I have not tried them yet, my lord," Mito said, and she watched the lord next to her physically freeze before taking a bite, his brows coming together and his mood completely shifting to one much more serious as he met her eyes with his apologizing ones.

"I am so sorry, Mito-chan, I didn't let you have a chance to have one before I…" the lord's head bowed and he seemed to immediately sink into a mini depression, startling Mito once again and making her hold up her hands and try to apologize.

"Oh no, Lord Hashirama, it is quite alright, I was just, um, waiting for them to cool before trying them," Mito tried to reassure him. "I am sure they are wonderful, and I am so thankful your family is giving me food."

Mito picked up the tray sitting next to her and moved it to her lap, to both assure the worrying lord and to make it so he wouldn't have to lean over her for more. She grabbed an eggroll and took a bite into it, realizing the food actually was of extremely good quality. She finished her eggroll and picked up the cooled cup of tea and took a sip, her stomach thanking her and her taste buds wanting more.

She involuntarily sighed at the delicious food, and she glanced over to see the lord begin to light back up from his depression.

"These are some of the best eggrolls I have tasted, and the tea is perfectly complimentary to it. Thank you again, Lord Hashirama, for being so kind to me." Mito smiled slightly at the man, and he seemed to relax from her words. He smiled at her back, his previous comfortable and gentle aurora returning to his form.

"It has been my pleasure; we barely ever have company any more. And it is exciting to meet someone from the Uzumaki clan, my father always used to talk about our old ties with your family," he mused as he settled back against the fluffy pillows, his eyes leaving this room again to see something far away in his mind.

_My father barely mentioned the families we knew from the mainland, but it is weird to think he may know Lord Hashirama or his family members._

"I haven't, well… spoken to my family in a while," Mito admitted, looking away and feeling slightly embarrassed. She looked up and expected to see a surprised or a disapproving face from the lord, but found instead an interested expression, one void of judgment.

"Did you leave for a particular reason?" He asked her as he munched on the food, and she swallowed and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I, well… I left a few months ago because of a disagreement with my father, and I decided to set out on my own, maybe explore the mainland that had been freed from war. This village is quite beautiful, hidden in the green trees and in pleasant weather."

Mito watched as the lord's face seemed to light up with energy at the mention of the village. Without warning, he stood up from the bed and turned towards her, lightly grabbing the tray from her lap and moving it back to the bed next to her. Mito looked up at him with widened eyes as he smiled down at her and grabbed her hand, his powerful chakra signature seeming to liven as he pulled her to her feet.

_What the-?_

Hashirama pulled her towards the door and then through a decorated hallway, Mito slightly tripping in shock, all the way to the end where a large window opened up to show a large expanse of the village in the afternoon daylight. They stopped in front of the window, Mito's eyes wide at the beautiful view of the sprawling houses and trees all under the watch of the great mountain cliff. The sunrays were beaming down from an assortment of clouds, the streams of light illuminating the patchwork of roofs and trees intermingling together. Mito could see that they were not in the center of the village where most of the wealthier houses were, but more closer to the edge so the trees were thicker and the buildings were farther distanced from each other.

_What a beautiful sight._

The window view itself was a perfect location for a painting, and Mito felt her fingers yearning to hold a paintbrush again for the first time in a long time.

"Up on that cliff was where Madara and I first decided we would build a village here hidden within the trees, a long time ago," Mito heard Hashirama say beside her in a quiet and thoughtful voice, and she turned to see his expression similar to hers; one of appreciation. "A village where everyone could live together without fighting, without pain. Where all the children could grow and enjoy their youth and the elders could relax in their final years." She watched him smile slightly, and then he turned towards her with a harder look in his eyes.

"Up until last night I had believed that this village was becoming the one I had envisioned." Mito watched a hint of sadness enter the tall lord's expression, his deep eyes showing he was feeling a great melancholy for the uglier truths that existed behind closed doors. "I see now that this village is only beautiful on the outside, with the people feeling pain and grief still, like the war had never ended."

Hashirama closed his eyes and bowed his head, and Mito blinked at the pure sincerity she felt from him. She knew now that this lord wanted the village to be the best it could be, and the knowledge that it wasn't as pain free and perfect as he envisioned was having an effect on him.

Mito looked back at the beautiful sight, so picturesque in its natural beauty.

_This sight is a mask, a beautiful mask that covers the true pains felt by the poorer people._

_But at least the people in power now realize that._

Mito sighed slightly, and then she looked at Hashirama, meeting his eyes with her determined ones.

"This village deserves to be beautiful, all the way to its core. I want to see it become a place of peace and happiness for all of the people, and I would love to help however I can." Mito said, and she smiled at the lord. Hashirama watched her and then smiled back, returning his eyes to the falling sun that was causing the landscape to deepen in color. He sighed as well, the first tired sign she had seen him show, and he lightly placed a hand on her shoulder. Mito blinked up at him, and his smile grew wide.

"Thank you for bringing these problems to light, Mito-chan. And thank you for wanting to stay and make this village better, I appreciate it." Hashirama's saddened eyes smiled at her with kindness, and Mito nodded at him, relieved that the events of the last few days had concluded to this, where the powerful men in charge of her new village were open minded and kind. Mito felt her mouth form a smile back at the lord.

_This village will be alright. I was worried before, but the people with power seem capable of healing the pains the people are feeling._

Mito turned when she felt the approaching chakra signature of Tobirama, and she was met by his sharp expression as he strode towards the two.

"Hashirama, the food is prepared," he said to his brother, and Hashirama turned to look back at Mito.

"Will you join us?" He asked her nicely, and she nodded with a smile.

"We had better hurry, else Mina-chan will eat all the food again," Hashirama said with a widening smile, and then he laughed out loud, returning once again to his contagious merriment.

_Mina!_

"Mina has been eating a lot? Is she feeling better? Thank you so much for giving her food, I had been trying to keep her eating but, wait she is _here_? Can I see her? Thank you for looking after her, I-" Hashirama stopped her rambling with a raised hand and a smile.

"She is all right, we will see her now!" He started off down the hallway with Mito in tow, eager to see the sweet girl.

The three rounded some corners in the big house, the maids greeting the lords and Mito looking around and appreciating the beautiful paintings on display. Tobirama leaned towards Mito and spoke to her quietly on their way to the dining room, catching her by surprise.

"Ryota is being kept in another family's house for safety, and will be trialed on a later date. Mina only knows that you both are here as our guests while you two recover from your ailments."

Mito met his expressionless slits.

"Thank you, Lord Tobirama," she said softly as they entered a well-lit room, a strong smell of fresh food wafting over her and giving it a homey feel. Mito looked around and found Mina immediately, her thin brown hair falling in front of her face as she bent her head towards the table. Her chopsticks were shaking in her bony hands as she shoveled rice and chicken into her mouth almost desperately, the sight making Mito's heart clench.

"Mina-chan," Mito said in a whisper, relief flooding through her veins at the sight of her here, in a safe house eating a great amount of food. The small girl looked up with a start and Mito smiled widely at the sight of her now color-filled cheeks and her hopeful eyes. She watched Mina smile back and jump up from her spot at the table and run over to her, her tears beginning to spill as she threw herself into Mito's arms.

"Mituo-kun! Hashi-san and Tobi-san have been so nice to me, and they give me so much food I have never seen before!" Mina said in Mito's arms, and Mito was busy blinking from the shock of hearing Mina's extremely informal _nicknames_ for the two lords. Mito glanced up quickly to see the lords' reactions to Mina's familiarity, and to her great surprise, both men were smiling at Mina, Lord Hashirama with his soft eyes and his wide smile, and Lord Tobirama with his usually hardened expression softened. Both men sat down at the table in a relaxed and casual manner, both picking up their chopsticks and starting small talk.

_I am quite confused._

Mito pat Mina's hair softly, noticing it was much cleaner than it usually is.

_We have much to thank this family for._

"Mina-chan, I am so glad to see you are okay." Mito pulled her back so she could get a good look at her face, appreciating how less grey it was. The best part was the big smile coming from her mouth, making Mito smile back.

Mina pulled Mito over to the table and she sat down right next to Hashirama, both of them looking quite comfortable. Hashirama smiled down at her and served her some more chicken, causing Mina to smile up at him with her wide eyes and then proceed to quickly eat the food.

It had taken Mina a month to feel comfortable around Mito, yet Lord Hashirama had made her feel at home in less than a day.

_Is this a dream?_

Mito cautiously sat down next to Mina and beside Tobirama, who met her eyes and nodded before serving her some rice and chicken. Mito took a bite of the food and felt like her insides were melting from the deliciousness of the meal, and she had to restrain herself to avoid eating like the young girl next to her who was currently shoveling the food in her mouth.

Mito kept glancing beside her to keep checking on Mina. The girl had more energy than Mito had seen in weeks, and when she looked up to meet Mito's glance, she saw a light in her wide eyes that she had only seen a few times before. Mito smiled at the girl, feeling relieved once again and thankful to the people of this house. Mina tilted her head a bit and took a break from her eating.

"Mituo-kun, Hashi-san said that you would feel better when you woke up?" Mina asked, and Mito met her eyes and nodded with a smile.

"Yes, Lord Hashirama was extremely nice to heal me and take us in, Mina-chan," Mito replied, and then she looked down and took a deep breath, knowing she needed to be honest with the girl.

_How will Mina take it? That I've lied about being male and I've lied about my name to her all of this time?_

"Um, Mina-chan, I have to tell you something…" Mito lowered her hand holding her chopsticks and averted her eyes from the girl's innocent ones. "I… My real name is Mito Uzumaki, and I'm actually an 18 year old… girl…"

Mito felt the attentions of the two lords focus on them, and she glanced up to meet the widened eyes of Mina.

"I… Well, I ran away from my family a while ago, and I travelled to this new village in search for a new beginning. It was safer for me to live as a younger boy, but now I think I can live as a girl again, as Mito…" She said softly to Mina. She glanced over to meet the eyes of the girl again, prepared to meet anger or hurt. Instead, Mina merely blinked at her and then smiled, putting down her chopsticks and turning towards Mito. She wrapped her bony arms around Mito's chest and then buried her face into Mito's borrowed shirt, surprising her.

"Okay, Onee-san," she said, her voice muffled by Mito's shirt. _Big sister?_ Mito blinked, and then cautiously returned her hug, careful to be gentle with the weak girl but wanting to squeeze her in thanks.

_How simple, how kind. I love children._

The rest of the meal progressed in a normal manner, seeming surreal to Mito.

_I am sharing a meal, on my left a rich and powerful lord and on my right a starving lower-class girl, but it doesn't feel that way._

Hashirama spoke to Mina about his younger cousins who were around her age, promising they could share their dresses and shoes with her and play after dinner.

"Mina-chan, have you ever seen the village from the top of the mountain cliff?" Hashirama asked the young girl, his tone energetic and his smile kind.

"No, but I want to, Hashi-san! It is so tall you could touch the clouds!" Mina exclaimed, and Hashirama laughed merrily, filling the atmosphere of the dining room with his contagious joy again.

"I'm taking my younger cousins tomorrow morning to see the sunrise; you must join us, Mina-chan!" He asked her with his smile, and the young girl nearly bounced out of her chair from nodding her head.

"You will not be able to touch the clouds, however," Tobirama told the young girl in his emotionless tone. Mina looked up at him with sadness in her eyes, and Mito watched his expressionless slits soften and his mouth lift a bit in a smile.

"But I'd bet Hashirama could take you closer on his wooden dragon, Mina-chan, if you ask him nicely," he said in a kinder tone, and Mina whipped her head over to look back at Hashirama, her eyes filled with excitement.

_Wooden dragon?_

"I would take us up to reach the clouds even without you asking, Mina-chan! Now we must!" Hashirama told her, and Mito watched the biggest smile form on Mina's face as she placed her chopsticks down and jumped over to hug Hashirama with her skinny arms. Hashirama laughed again and hugged the small girl back, lifting his eyes to meet Mito's widened ones and smiling at her over the girl's head.

_What kind men. This seems too perfect to be true._

"Will you join us, Mito-chan? The sunrise from that view is breathtakingly beautiful," Hashirama asked her, and Mito watched Mina turn around in Hashirama's arms to look at her, her smile wide and her eyes hopeful.

"I would be honored to. Thank you, Lord Hashirama," Mito said with a smile, and she took a sip from her tea, her mind slowly processing this strange social development.

_So different from every other wealthy family I have experienced. Especially my own._

The four finished their food and enjoyed small talk, continuing to ease Mito's nerves. One thing kept bugging her mind, however, whenever she would glance at Mina.

_How will they deal with Ryota? _

Mito watched Hashirama make a funny face and cause Mina to laugh.

_I seem to trust the intentions of these lords, they seem like good people._

_But how will Ryota react to me?_

The thought made Mito blink down at her hands. Ryota would find out his server boy was actually a young woman…

_Don't think about it. Right now, get Mina healthy._

Mito looked over again to the laughing girl and saw her large smile and her light-filled eyes.

_Well, Lord Hashirama seems to be doing a fine job at that._

Mito relaxed back into her chair and allowed herself to smile contently. Her fingers found their way up to play with the side strands of her hair, and she allowed herself to relax.

It was then that Tobirama seemed to stiffen next to her, and she looked over to measure his body language. He glanced over to the door leading out of the dining room, and he stood up from the table without warning.

"I will retire to my rooms. Good night, everyone." He said, meeting Mito's eyes briefly. He walked towards his brother and he lightly patted Mina's head affectionately before leaving the room.

Mito infused some chakra and expanded her mind outwards to try and sense what Tobirama had sensed.

_There._

Mito sensed outside of the Senju compound a slightly familiar chakra signature, and after a few seconds, recognized it as the other lord she had met last night, Lord Madara.

Mina, still in Hashirama's arms, let out a big yawn.

"It's getting late, we should probably head to bed too. Would you like to sleep in Yano's room again?" Hashirama asked her, and Mina smiled up at him before looking over at Mito with a curious expression.

"Hashi-san, could I maybe sleep with, Nee-san?" She asked uncertainly, and Mito smiled warmly at her, touched the young girl wanted to be close to her tonight. Hashirama looked up at Mito, his warm eyes smiling.

"Mina-chan, you go on and get ready for bed, I'll be there in a few minutes, okay?" Mito told her, and Mina nodded and climbed out of Hashirama's arms. A maid came from the kitchen and took Mina's hand and escorted her to the room Mito had woken up in.

Mito watched Hashirama sigh slightly, but it was a contented sigh and not a tired sigh. He picked up his cup of tea and sipped it thoughtfully while Mito did the same. Another thought had been troubling Mito.

"Lord Hashirama, I really am grateful for everything you have given us. I was thinking, since I am out of a job, would you have any place here for me? I can cook and clean and I would ask only for minimum wage and maybe a corner to sleep in for a while, and Mina can-"

Mito was interrupted by the door opening abruptly. Both Hashirama and Mito looked up to see a dark, black mane enter the doorway, the bangs shifting to reveal the face of Lord Madara.

He immediately met Mito's widened eyes with his sharp dark ones, and Mito felt a guilty flash of remembrance of when she had yelled at him and Hashirama in the bar. Mito bowed her head and averted her eyes, embarrassed of her behavior of the night before.

"I see you have recovered. That is good." His deep voice murmured to her, and she glanced up to meet his slight smile.

"Yes, Lord Madara. I must apologize for my behavior last night, and I must thank you for saving Mina and I," Mito said to him, meeting his dark gaze with her determined expression. He watched her for a moment more, and she watched him back, for some reason unable to read him like she could usually read everyone else. He blinked at her, and then he responded.

"Your behavior was reasonable. It was a good thing that we found out about the sickness before it got any worse. We could only return the favor," he strode over to where Hashirama sat at the table and stood next to him. Mito watched as Hashirama's face glanced up at Madara, troubled. Hashirama looked back at Mito and met her eyes, his eyebrows coming together.

"Mito-chan, you are my guest. I could never imagine having you or Mina-chan work in my home," he told her, his hands clasping together.

_He is a kind man with a kind sentiment, but kindness does not buy food. And I cannot continue to use his hospitality._

She nodded in understanding, trying not to let her disappointment show on her face. Working for this just lord would have been a wonderful job, with security and with a far better hygiene environment than her last.

_I need a job, and Mina needs a home._

"I see. You must be in need of an occupation, what with that scum of a man rotting away in my family's cellar." Madara said to her in a curt monotone, and she met his narrowed eyes, surprised at his strong disapproval of Ryota. Hashirama also glanced up at his angered friend, then looked back at Mito with a hopeful glint in his eye.

"Mito-chan, please stay here for a while longer. I couldn't think of having you have to worry about anything while we deal with Ryota," he told her kindly, and Mito smiled slightly and nodded.

Madara moved to sit down next to Hashirama, and the two looked at each other.

"Speaking of it, that man is the reason I am visiting at such a late hour," Madara said to the other lord. Mito watched Madara's eyes narrow and the rest of his body take on a dark feel at the mention of her former employer. "He has calmed down since last night, but he continues to bother the guards I stationed with requests. He wishes to see his daughter."

Hashirama looked down and sighed heavily, and Mito frowned, wondering at what the lords will decide for him.

"I can understand his want to see his daughter after being taken away by strangers, but I fear for Mina-chan's safety," Hashirama said, reaching for an extra cup across the table and filling it with tea for Madara. Madara nodded, but Mito guessed from his hard expression that he felt no guilt for keeping the father separated from his daughter.

_As much as I dislike Ryota, I feel I should tell them the truth._

"If I may say, Ryota-san is indeed a troubled man, but he has never laid a finger on Mina-chan. I believe he loves her more than he loves himself," Mito said, and the two lords watched her quietly as Hashirama also poured her more tea.

"That does not discount his crimes against you, however," Madara told her, and she nodded in remembrance of the scars she had thanks to him. Mito took a sip of tea and then looked up at the dark lord, feeling his gaze on her. He watched her as he took a sip of his own tea, and then he tilted his head slightly and set down his cup.

"Would you wish us to charge him for his crimes as though they were against a boy or a young woman?" He asked her curiously, and Mito blinked as the other lord looked over at her as well.

_I see, charging him for beating a boy might give him less punishment than for beating a woman… And if he were to ever want to do business again, having crimes for beating a woman would hinder him more than for beating a poor server boy._

Mito looked away and pulled at a strand of her hair, also setting down her tea.

"I… Well, to his knowledge, he was beating a lowly server boy, and not a young woman…" She said. Madara crossed his arms and glowered at the table while Hashirama gave her an apologizing expression.

"However he _was_ beating a young woman, in cold blood, on the hard ground, like an animal," Madara said angrily, his voice lowered and curt, and both Hashirama and Mito looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"What he did was horrible, Mito-chan, and you do not owe him any protection," Hashirama said to her in a calmer and apologetic voice, and she smiled at his soft eyes in thanks.

"Thank you, my lords. I am unaccustomed to being protected by such kind men," she said without thinking, and she blinked at herself as the two men smiled at her, one with a wide and happy smile and the other with a small and subdued one, though just as genuine.

"This village should be a place where all people can be accustomed to kindness and fairness." Hashirama said softly, his disappointment in the village weakening his smile and causing his soft eyes to fill with seriousness. Madara glanced at his friend and took another sip of his tea while Mito tried not to sigh in agreement.

"It will do the village no good to fall into one of your depressions again, Hashirama," Madara told the lord while looking at him sideways, his tone not unkind. Hashirama nodded once and then met Mito's eyes with a strong and determined force, causing her to be surprised.

"We will fix this village and make it the one we dream of!" He proclaimed, changing the air in the room from its serious and relaxed tone to an energetic and hopeful one within seconds. Mito blinked at him and nodded as he stood up and set his shoulders. He looked down and smiled at Madara and Mito, his long hair falling over his shoulders like a cascading waterfall.

"Good night to you both." The lord of the house left the room, leaving behind a trail of his lingering optimism. Mito smiled slightly and shook her head, glancing over to the remaining lord to see a similar smile on his face.

"You get used to his antics." Madara mused softly, leaning forward slightly onto the table on his elbows, his tea in between his hands and his mane shifting forward slightly. His manner exuded an air of calmness, of silent patience that seemed to soothe the last of Mito's nerves.

_How can this lord look so frightening one second and then calm the next?_

"Will I get used to yours?" She asked him without thinking. Realizing how familiar her question was, her eyes darted up to meet his, and her eyes widened when they met two blood red irises, each with three black comas circling a black pupil. His stare bored into her gaze, seeming to delve deep into the depths of her soul within a single second, seeing all and missing nothing. The air between them changed instantaneously to one more serious, where the air felt heavy with power and intensity.

_A-Are those… Sharingan?_

Mito continued to stare at the roused lord as he seemed to finish his search.

"And what antics of mine would you have to get used to?" He asked her quietly, his eyes remaining in their powerful state and his hands clasping together. He blinked at her once, and she used the millisecond off from his stare to mentally slap her mind back into working operation.

"Well, um, you seem to make yourself intimidating, Lord Madara…" Mito swallowed as her honesty once again escaped her mouth. She watched his eyebrows lift, and he blinked again, this time returning to his previous black eyes.

"I'm intimidating?" He cocked his head slightly, his brows furrowed as he gazed off in thought, completely dropping the intense mood and making Mito blink once again from shock. The lord took a sip of tea and then shook his head slightly, like he was dismissing a thought. He met Mito's eyes again as his mouth formed a slight smile.

"You must be imagining it, Mito." He waved a hand as if to dismiss her notion, and Mito's eyebrows rose, not believing that he wasn't aware of his intimidating stance. She watched him take another sip of tea before meeting her eyes once again.

"I took it upon myself to see your chakra, and it seems Hashirama wasn't exaggerating. That diamond on your forehead is filled with raw chakra." He gestured towards her forehead, and she nodded, her hand reaching up to part her bangs for him to see.

_Ah. Sharingan can see chakra._

"Yes, my lord. Part of my personal training has been a continuous meditation of storing chakra, aimed to practice my chakra control and manipulation. I honestly have no use for it, yet. I explained it fully to Lord Tobirama."

Madara listened to her intently with curious eyes until she mentioned Tobirama's name. At his mention, Madara's eyes hardened and his eyebrows lowered, returning to the melancholy state he was in the first time Mito met him in the bar.

Mito blinked at him.

_What is his and Lord Tobirama's relationship?_

"I see. So you do have shinobi skills." He rested his chin on a hand. "I guess I am just confused as to why you were working where you were. And why you would put yourself through that abuse."

Mito scratched the back of her head, somewhat taken aback by the lord's forwardness.

_I guess I would be suspicious too. My reasons _are _illogical._

"I… well, I don't think I am strong enough to live the life of a shinobi…" Mito looked down and to the side, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"You seem capable enough to me, what with your expert chakra control." He paused, tilting his head slightly and waiting for Mito to raise her gaze to his again before saying more. His eyes were curious, but with a hard edge. "You could do more good if you used your skills."

_I know this._

"I agree with you. I just… I can't…" Mito bowed her head again and brought her arms around herself, suddenly feeling a chill and moving her hands up and down her arms to rub some warmth into them. "I can't even imagine, hurting someone again…"

Flashes of that memory came back to Mito, filling her vision with that bloodstained room and the crimson bed. She felt her scars from that time light up along her skin, reminding her of the physical pain, and the even more terrible pain of realizing she had taken someone's life…

"I want to do good. I want to protect the people I care about and heal the people who are hurt. I want to build a hospital that everyone can use, I want to build a school so children like Mina can have a future. But without any money, without any friends, and without the skills I want to use, I had to start from the bottom in this village and build my way up."

Mito gripped her tea cup.

_I know, Lord Madara. I know I am being selfish, I know I am being unreasonable. I know-_

"You have felt pain." Madara interrupted her train of thought. Mito looked up and met his dark eyes, now looking like deep, soothing wells of understanding. "I see it in you. I apologize, Mito. Don't do anything you don't want to."

Mito blinked at the lord. At his immediate mood change. She watched him sigh softly and look off into the distance.

_He has also felt pain. Great pain._

"I wish to someday contribute something big to this village, like you have," Mito said to him, and he met her eyes with his calm ones.

"What have I done?" He asked her, his eyes watching her with curiosity.

"You helped create this village." Mito told him, slightly confused. "You played a part in creating the idea of making a place of peace, a place where people like me can start over."

Madara stayed quiet for a moment, continuing to look at her with a blank expression, his true emotions and thoughts hidden behind his guarded eyes.

"It wasn't enough to atone for the past." He glanced away from Mito then, bringing his cup closer to him but looking intently at the table. "Any good I do now pales in comparison to the vast amounts of death and suffering I once caused."

He seemed to be almost talking to himself. Mito tugged at a strand of hair as she sipped her tea, unperturbed.

"I think, the wonderful thing about a village, is how long it will last. How generations will build upon generations, and each will benefit from the creation of this safe haven. Every time a new child smiles for the first time, every time a couple decides to get married or two people become best friends, it adds the happiness to the overall wealth of the village and makes our lives here even more prosperous." She watched him blink at her. "New generations will always have this hope, thanks to you. None of the good things you have done are affected by the bad, and you deserve to be remembered for your good. I want to thank you as well, for personally giving me happiness in the form of hope."

Mito finished her tea, and met the gaze of the quiet lord, his eyes less guarded.

_I talk too much._

Madara finished his tea as well, slowly placing his cup on the table and looking like some of the weight he had been carrying had been lifted.

"If I know one thing, it is that this village cannot have you return to a lowly job." He looked up and met Mito's eyes, his mouth lifting slightly to form a smile. Some of the worry lines had softened on his face, and his eyes held more determination. "As soon as you recover fully from your injuries, I, Hashirama, or any others from the council will offer you a higher position in service of this village."

Mito's eyes widened.

"How long must I wait?" She asked without thinking, and Madara's small smile grew a bit before he responded.

"You are underweight, Mito, and still recovering from broken bones and bruises. When Hashirama deems you healthy, I think you would offer a big help in the healing of this village." He leaned back in his chair, looking comfortable, and smiled at her while she tried to contain her excitement.

"I-! But Lord Madara, I feel absolutely fine, I-" He stopped her with a raised hand.

"That is all I will say on the matter. Your recovery is our first priority."

Mito settled down and nodded.

"Thank you, Lord Madara," She breathed and relaxed in her chair as well, thinking about what this could mean.

_A position in the village? Will I be able to help out the people this soon?_

"I am needed back at my home tonight, but I will return here tomorrow to give an update on Ryota." He stood from the table and looked down at her. "Good night, Mito."

Without waiting for her to respond, he turned and left the room, his dark mane swishing slightly to the side every time he took a step. He left Mito sitting there in a slight awe, trying to completely comprehend everything she had experienced this day.

_It seems my bad luck seems to be running out._

She also stood from the table and made her way through the quiet halls to find the room she had woke n up in. When she arrived, she peered in and found a small lump under the covers, and she smiled at the sound of Mina softly breathing.

Padding into the room, she carefully got under the covers with the small girl, enjoying the warm of another person and feeling much more comfortable in this big bed in this big room despite only being here for a day.

_The people here seem like good people. I don't know why, but I trust them._

This comforting thought soothed Mito's ever-tense nerves and helped her relax into the voluminous blankets. Her mind drifted to the abstract world of dreams, and she settled next to the sleeping girl.

_These covers make me feel like a child again, in my old home._

_I had a good childhood, and I hope I can give Mina a better one, along with a better village._

* * *

**Again, I am a new writer, and forever looking for criticisms and suggestions. I think I take too long to say something, and that is why my chapters seem to drone on. Any ideas? **

**Thank you again for reading!**


End file.
